1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a television receiving apparatus for receiving broadcast digital terrestrial or satellite signals, and for displaying an electronic program guide allowing a viewer to view the broadcast programs and offering the viewer broadcast program information. It also relates to a method of displaying the electronic program guide.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system for receiving broadcast digital television signals such as broadcasting satellite (BS) digital broadcasting, communication satellite (CS) digital broadcasting and digital terrestrial broadcasting has become increasingly popular. These kinds of digital broadcasting systems employ a moving picture experts group (MPEG) method of compression coding technology to send more information than the conventional analog broadcasting. For instance, an electronic program guide (EPG) is multiplexed into a broadcasting signal to be displayed on a television screen so that the viewer can easily select the desired program from the EPG. Further, the digital broadcasting system can secure more than 100 channels to broadcast a great number of programs.
Thanks to the multiplied channels of the broadcasting programs and globalization in recent years, programs broadcast in a variety of languages are available for the viewer in Japan. Thus, people from various countries can enjoy viewing programs broadcasted in their own languages. However, when a user does not understand the language used in a television menu, the user cannot easily operate the television set. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-095492 discusses a television apparatus displaying a language menu on a screen to allow a user to set a desired language, when the user first uses a television receiver.
However, while the conventional method can facilitate operation of the television set, it is very difficult to select a program to be broadcasted in a language desired by the viewer from among more than 100 multiple channels. Although a program search can retrieve a program based on language information, if the user does not understand the language used in an operation screen of the program search, the program search itself is troublesome.